Post by Faygo on May 16, 2004 3:11:26 GMT -5
Final Fantasy 8
This was the final fantasy that got me hooked, thus
making me the crazed FF otaku I am today! Enjoy the
thread!
Love is a battlefield.
A lot of gamers will be looking closely at Final Fantasy 8
if they know what's good for them -- after all, it's the
next episode in the never ending Final Fantasy series
and the follow-up to one of the best selling Playstation
games ever. And while the hyped-up Final Fantasy 7
wasn't perfect, it did have the distinction of bringing
RPGs into the mainstream. Most people will be jumping
to 8 simply out of their love for 7. But will it be worth it?
I'd have to say yes.
Squall Leonhart is a student at the elite military school,
Garden. At Garden, students are trained to become
SeeDs, mercenary soldiers of the highest calibur. SeeDs
are hired and sent out to extinguish problems
throughout the world.
Across the ocean lies the country Galbadia -- a nation
ruled by an evil dictator with dreams of world conquest
(has there ever been a GOOD dictator?). To subjugate
the planet, Galbadia has enlisted the aid of Edea, a
mysterious sorceress. Sorceresses have been the
subject of legends, and were long thought to have
been gone from the earth.
The theme of the game is love -- just look at the couple
(Squall and Rinoa, the heroine) hugging behind the FF8
logo. Awww, isn't that cuuute? Sarcasm aside, the
storyline is actually the brightest part of the game.
There are some slow parts in the middle, but just when
you almost start to lose interest, things pick up again.
Frankly, you don't even have to play the game to know
that love will win out in some way...very 'Hollywood.'
But it is the way in which they tell the story that sets it
apart from being just some teen-angst drama. Even for
a cynic like me, there were moments that made me put
down my controller and think. Now that is a game with
power.
For those of you who are less concerned with the plot,
let's get straight to the combat. The battle system is
set up by junctioning "Guardian Forces" to your
characters. These Guardian Forces, or GF's, are
creatures that srengthen your character for battle.
After being junctioned, your character will inherit the
GF's abilities and magic junction powers. Bye-bye
materia, hello new complicated system..
Initially, the only ability your character will have
is "attack". After you junction to a GF, your character
will be able to fill up 3 active abilities, as well as
inactive abilities. Having only 3 slots gives a
good "check and balance" feature to setting up your
character. Most GF's will immediately offer you the
following active abilities: magic, item, GF (a.k.a. to
summon the GF), and draw. More abilties open up as
your GF's level increases. Inactive abilities are also
earned and include such things as "HP increase by
80%" or "automatic haste."
Magic is done with a "draw" method rather than the
familiar magic points meter. When you "draw" against
an enemy, you take one of your enemy's spells. These
spells can then be cast using the magic ability or they
can be "junctioned" to certain character statistics
Confused? Let's say you've drawn 31 cures and your GF
has the ability to junction magic to HP. By junctioning
your cures to the HP, your HP can be raised. Different
GF's have different magic junctions: some can junction
spells to your vitality, others to your Elemental
defense. It allows you to customize and greatly
strengthen your character.
The downside of the draw system is that in order to
really "strengthen" your character, you need to draw
all of the important spells to the max (100). That can
get… well, boring. There aren't any armor upgrades,
and weapon upgrades are a minor aspect in the game.
So it's all about junctioning magic. I think even the
most battle hardened of RPGers will get tired of
drawing spells from some weakling enemy that's barely
fighting back. The last area in the game is really
nothing more than an easy chance to max out all your
spells. It would have been better if spells were harder
to accumulate and enemies didn't have unlimited spells
to draw.
Much like FF7, the graphics push the envelope of the
Playstation hardware, but at the same time illustrate
the limitations of the system. What really makes the
graphics impressive is how the character designs stay
consistent throughout. From battle to video to just
walking around, there's none of that wacky, super-
anime deformity of FF7. This consistency helps to keep
the story flowing smoothly. Unfortunately, sometimes
the backgrounds of the battles have a pixelated look.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Square game without
overblown, glorified videos. The transition from
gameplay to video is truly impressive and seamless.
Musically, there are only a few tracks that really stand
out. The other songs have a looped, empty feel. Th
best musical piece in the game is "Eyes on Me", sung
by Hong Kong popstar Faye Wong. It's a cliched, but
beautiful love song. A clever trick in the game is how
they work the melody of the song into key moments, so
that when you get to the lyrical version, the song
carries a lot more meaning.
Final Fantasy 8 is a great game, but not a perfect one.
The battles and junction system have their flaws. At
times you'll be too powerful; at other times, you'll just
be drawing spells to gain strength. But the long ending
that waits in store will make up for most of the
negatives. Overall, it plays and feels like a fleshed out
Final Fantasy 7. While one can find similarities between
the two in characters and ideas, you can really see
how things really come together in number 8.